Russle smith



(No Model.)

J. A. SMITH.

RAILROAD GATE.

No. 325, 874. Patented Sept. 8, 1885..

Jitofnsy.

UNITED STATES PATENT OF IC JOHN ALLEN SMITH, OF ST. PAUL, ARKANSAS,ASSIG NOR OF ONE-HALF TO ISAAo SHELTON SMITH, WILLIAM AKE MARRS, ELBERTSAWYERS SMITH, JOHN BUNYAN PEAoH, WILLIAM HARRI ON BOLINGER, AMESMADISON WI L A S, GEORGE WASHIN TON RUSSLE SMITH, ZAOHARIAH TAYLORREYNOLDS, ND WILLIAM BENJ MIN SUMNER.

RAILROAD-GATE.

fiPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No; 325,874, datedSeptember 8,1885 application filed April 13, 1885. (No 1 .10am

T all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, JOHN A. SMITH, a citizen of the United States,residing at St. Paul, in the county of Madison and State of Arkansas,have inventedcertain new and useful Improvements in Automatic Gates; andI do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exactdescription of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in theart to which it appertains to make and use the same. 7

This invention has relation, to improvements in railroad-gates; and it"consists in the construction and novel arrangement of de- 1 vices, ashereinafter fully explained, and particularly pointed out in theappended claim. The annexed drawings, to which reference is made, fullyillustrate my invention, in which Figure 1 represents a side view of mydevice. Fig. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the same, taken on line 00m, Fig. 3. Fig. 3 is a plan view, and Figs. 4, 5, and 6 are detailviews. 7 Referring by letter to the accompanying drawings, A designatesthe portion of the rails of a railroad-track nearest the gate. Theserails are hinged on opposite sides of the gate, as at a, while the endsI) are free to move vertically, and are slightly inclined from the 0hinge portion to the gate, as shown in the drawings. The ends 11 of therail are provided wit-h transverse bars or ties c, which connect the tworails and project on each side of the same sufficiently far to operatein connection 3 5 with parts presently explained.

' B B represent the gate, which is composed of two sections constructedalike, and each provided both on top and bottom with a rod, d. The upperrods travel upon and are sup o ported by the pulleys or rollers e, whichare secured to the side of the posts 0, situated on each side of thetrack. The lower rods are guided in their lateral movement by guidethrough perforations h in the ends of brackets,

z, Secured to the posts, thus guiding and supporting the gates inposition.

D D represent vertical levers, which are slotted, as atj, in which slotswork pulleys is, secured to the Sections of the gate. Theselevers'are'constructed alike. At the lower end of each lever is secureda transverse rod, 1, which is seated in'bearings m, secured to the post0 and toa short post, N, and a second.

transverse rod, 1), on the lower end of the lever has its end bearingsin slotted plates 1?, secured to the under sideof the transverse ties ofthe r ail,'as shown in the drawings.

The operation of the gate is as follows: When a train of cars reachesthe rail-section on either sideof the gate, (prior to which the gate isclosed,) the weight of said cars depresses said rail-section, thusforcing the transverse bars or ties downwardly, at the same timethrowing the levers D laterally, and carrying therewith thegate-sections, to each side of the track and permitting the train topass through. WVhen saidtrain leaves the hinged portion of the track onthe opposite side of said gate, the hinged sections resume theirinclined or normal position, thus, through the medium of the transverseties and pivoted levers D, closing said gate and preventing persons oranimals from e11 tering.

This gate is designed to be used at railroadcrossings, or where the railenters tunnels, farms, bridges, and, in fact, wherever such a guard maybe necessary. It maybe also used as a farm-gate, the weight of a horseor wagon serving to open the gate, and for a small or passenger gate,the weight of a person serving the same purpose. In order to raise theinclined ends of the rail-sections, I usually provide a spring, 8, undereach section, which accomplishes this result.

A gate constructed as herein described is simple in operation, durable,and cheap to manufacture.

I am aware that prior to my invention patents were granted by the UnitedStates, No,

114,940 and No. 235,489, for similar gates; hence I do not claim,broadly, an automatic gate; but,

Having described my invention, what I 5 claim, and desire to secure byLetters Patent, 1s-

In an automatic gate, the combination of the slotted levers D, providedat their lower ends with the rods Zp, the gate-sections hav- 1o ing theupper and lower guide-rods, d, the posts (3, provided with the pulleys eand hooks or staples f, the brackets i, adapted to receive the rod 9 onthe gate-sections, and the rails hinged at a and provided with thecrossties 0, having the slotted bearings? to engage the rods of thelevers D, the whole arranged as shown, described, and for the purposespecified.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two Witnesses.

JOHN ALLEN SMITH. Vvitnesses:

ELIJAH DRAKE, J r., HARVEY O. GUrrERs;

